HULL CITY are through to the EFL Cup semi-finals after a 3-1 penalty shootout victory against Newcastle United tonight.

For Hull, Robert Snodgrass, Michael Dawson and Tom Huddlestone scored in the spot-kicks while for Newcastle only Christian Atsu netted. Jonjo Shelvey saw his penalty saved, Dwight Gayle crashed his against the crossbar and Yoan Gouffran was also denied by Hull keeper Eldin Jakupović.

The game burst into life in just 70 seconds of extra-time. First, ex-Hull man Mo Diame scored against his old club, then Robert Snodgrass levelled things up at 1-1 after sub Markus Henriksen’s shot was parried out to him by Magpies keeper Matz Sels.

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez is in deep discussion with one of the men who missed his penalty, Jonjo Shelvey, and captain Jamaal Lascelles after they were dumped out

The most entertaining moment of what was a dire 90 minutes of 0-0 at the KCOM Stadium came in the 88th minute.

Jamaal Lascelles and Dieumerci Mbokani had a coming together, with the Hull man appearing to aim a headbutt at the Newcastle captain. The referee shows no hesitation in showing a straight red to Mbokani while Lascelles was booked. In the truth, the game always had the lure of penalties.

Facts, stats, goals and lols

Despite Gayle’s constant buzzing, his shooting boots appeared to have been left in the dressing room tonight. This could lead to questions as to why Rafa Benitez chose to rest Aleksandar Mitrovic for tonight’s cup clash.

Newcastle should have put this to bed, but it is their on-target stats that show why. Of the Magpies’ 32 shots at the Hull goal, only five were on target. They also dominated possession 60%-40%.

How many chances does Dieumerci Mbokani in English football? Eyebrows were raised how he managed to get another Premier League move from Norwich to Hull. Tonight his “performance” was lethargic and non-committal, topped off with a red card for butting Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles.

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Tom Huddlestone struggles to impact games anymore. It seems an age since the commanding presence of Huddlestone was seen as a lynchpin of the Spurs and England midfield for years to come. Now it's a wonder how he is such a sure-fire starter for Mike Phelan at Hull.

Dwight Gayle is Newcastle's version of Jamie Vardy. Like the Leicester and England man, Gayle's clever runs work to split the centre-half pairing, and then his pace pulls him away. What were Crystal Palace thinking in letting him go?! He might not have scored tonight, but he is always a constant threat.

Hull have only won twice at the KCOM Stadium this season - it began brightly with a win against last season's champions Leicester. It was clear to see why - their players struggled to deal with the expectations of a willing and boisterous crowd.

The referee showed Mbokani a straight red for his actions towards Lascelles

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Seventeen goals have been scored in the last four meetings between the two teams. But this was always seen as the poor relation compared to Leeds's trip to Anfield in tonight's other quarter-final. Plenty of huff and puff, but little quality.

The minutes silence remembering those who died in the Colombia plane disaster, that included most of the Chapecoense Real team from Brazil, was impeccably observed - and this time it was a silence and not the "applause" that tends to take over.